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Slavery in Rhode Island: Awakening a Forgotten Past (Brochure)

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Slavery in Rhode Island: Awakening a Forgotten Past (Brochure) Providence College DigitalCommons@Providence Black Studies Student Scholarship Black Studies 2016 Slavery in Rhode Island: Awakening a Forgotten Past (brochure) Abudu Adeboye Providence College, [email protected] Cassandra Caggiano Providence College, [email protected] Cassandra M. Chisolm Providence College, [email protected] Marisa DelFarno Providence College, [email protected] Brian Nicholas Providence College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/black_studies_students Part of the Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Adeboye, Abudu; Caggiano, Cassandra; Chisolm, Cassandra M.; DelFarno, Marisa; and Nicholas, Brian, "Slavery in Rhode Island: Awakening a Forgotten Past (brochure)" (2016). Black Studies Student Scholarship. 2. https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/black_studies_students/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Black Studies at DigitalCommons@Providence. It has been accepted for inclusion in Black Studies Student Scholarship by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Providence. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Who We Are? About Us We are a group of Providence College students enrolled this semester in an Introductory course on Black Studies, seeking to raise awareness about the historical past of Rhode Island. Our project is dedicated to exploring the elements of slavery in Rhode Island that are omitted from what we are taught in Do We need to learn more? historically influenced classes at Providence College such as The Answers from Our Peers Development of Western Civilization. We conducted a survey testing the knowledge of our peers Instead, the history lessons we regarding the History of slavery in Rhode Island. are taught are most often centered around a Euro-centric view, but we aim to challenge these narrow teachings and widen our perspectives by constructing alternative narratives that go against the metanarrative. We see to recover the truth and acknowledge the agency, the set of skills, and the sense of humanity that black individual managed to retained during and after their enslavement. Slavery By overlooking Rhode Island’s involvement in the slave trade, we as college students remain ignorant to in how slavery was not just concentrated thousands of miles away from us, but Rhode Island occurred in the familiar places we travel to everyday. We would not only like to Image Source: shed light on the hidden history of Awakening a Forgotten Past http://pdq.rwu.edu/news/oct-28- slavery, but to raise consciousness discussion-reflect- about how this history should play a infamous-%E2%80%98middle- vital part in our education at passage%E2%80%99-and-rhode- Providence College. island%E2%80%99s-role-slave-trade Bristol Providence Linden Place: Brown University: This was the home of George DeWolf, who was also The fortune used to fund Brown University on the the nephew of James DeWolf, another famous slave East Side of Providence was acquired by the trader and the second-wealthiest man in the United trafficking of slaves throughout New England. States. Despite its involvement in the slave trade, it is The Browns family controlled slave trade in still hailed as being the “architectural crown jewel” of Rhode Isla Bristol’s waterfront district. Newport Newport Rhode Island Museum of History: The Cathedral of St. John: This building was used as a slave market. The DeWolf Tavern: The Cathedral of St. John has begun to create a Newport Slave traders also bought sugar canes DeWolf Tavern is situated in the historic building once museum to educate on the Church’s involvement from Caribbean plantations and turned it into known as DeWolf Rum Distillery. The restaurant’s rum. They would then have exported it to the during the 1700s-- which is where a majority of website lightly notes them as “maritime merchants.” West coast of Africa in exchange for rum. Rhode Island’s shipbuilders worshiped. However, James DeWolf was actually one of the most Touro Synagogue: famous slave traders. This is the oldest synagogue in the America dating back to the colonial times. One of the leading contributors toward its construction was Aaron Lopez, who was a Jewish merchant and one of the wealthiest man in Newport. Lopez was heavily involved in the slave trade and controlled close to 30 slave ships by the start of the American revolution .
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